New rules set to make foreign paddlers a rarity in league
The China Table Tennis Super League will start this weekend without a single foreign player, the organizers announced on Monday.
So far, no foreign players have applied to join the nation's top table tennis league after the organizers enacted a new rule that foreign imports must represent their Chinese clubs for the whole season and play at least 18 games.
"It doesn't mean that we are saying 'no' to foreign players," explained Liu Fengyan, head of the sport's national administrative center. "We are just copying an international practice to improve the management of the league."
As well as all elite Chinese paddlers, the league used to attract big foreign names like Timo Boll of Germany, Ai Fukuhara of Japan and Ryu Seung-min of South Korea.
But few of those globe-trotting athletes were willing to stay long with their Chinese clubs and their appearances in China were miserable - some of them only played two games per season.
"The management of foreign imports used to be very loose and has a bad influence on the league. So we decided to make a change," Liu added.
However, there is speculation that the new rule might be more to do with next year's Beijing Olympics than the health of the league. Some Chinese officials are worried that foreign players could pose a bigger threat to China's dominance if they get acquainted with Chinese paddlers in the league.
Under the new rule, it is almost impossible for foreign imports to come to China as they will have to play a series of international tournaments to qualify for the Beijing Games during the league period.
"They (foreign players) need to play many tournaments prior to the Beijing Games. That's probably the reason why they are not coming," Liu said.
The new rule also highlighted a dilemma for the ambitious organizers who are hoping to make the league a world-class sports event but are forced to make changes to avoid any conflicts with China's Olympic preparations.
The league, coming into its tenth edition, is seen as a major platform for Chinese paddlers to prepare for the Beijing Games next year.
"The league is the fundamental power base of China's table tennis and its significance is huge because of its help for Olympic preparations," Liu said.
To ensure the competitiveness of the league, Chinese national team players will skip two International Table Tennis Federation Pro Tour tournaments held in Taiwan and South Korea.
The 180-game league will start on June 9 and end on September 12.
China is looking to sweep the four gold medals in Beijing Games. Last week, the national players showed their dominance by sweeping all the five titles on offer at the World Championships in Croatia.
(China Daily 06/06/2007 page22)
